Oct. 9 Republican debate transcript

Harwood: Senator Thompson, let me ask you to respond on ethanol. Should the government determine whether ethanol makes sense or should the market?

Thompson: First I want you to explain for my friends here who Goober and Gomer are. (Laughter.)

Excuse me.

Unknown: (Inaudible) -- they watched Andy and Opie.

Thompson: That's right. (Laughter.)

Harwood: It's a southern thing, I guess.

Should the government determine whether ethanol makes economic sense, or should the free market make that determination?

Thompson: Ultimately it will be the free market. But I think, like the governor says, I think that we're in a situation now where we've got to use everything that's available to us. I think renewables and alternatives are a part of that picture.

I don't look for it to last forever. When the industry gets up and running and on its feet again, I don't see the need for what we're doing now.

But you have to look at the bigger picture. Most economic downturns over the last 25 years have been preceded by a spike in oil prices. There's probably plenty of oil out there for the indefinite future. But price is an issue, and that brings in the whole question of the importance of stability in the world.

The United States, since the end of World War II, has been a force for stability and democracy, which helps bring about stability, for a long, long time. Our policies, with regard to places like the Middle East and Iraq right now, are very important with regard to the very issue we're talking about. Because instability and crises in the wrong parts of the world are going to cause dramatic results in the upward movement of the oil prices, and that could be devastating to our economy.

Bartiromo: Quick follow-up: Governor Romney, you said government shouldn't get involved in business and free markets. Yet we subsidized farmers to the tune of $26 billion last year. Will the government end up bailing out farmers again?

Romney: I believe in domestic supports for our agriculture industry. I don't want to see our food supply be in the same kind of a jeopardy situation that our energy supply is in. And clearly there's a responsibility of government to make sure that our farmers are treated on the same basis as farmers in Europe and other markets that we compete with.

We're in the middle of the Doha Round, the WTO talks, and if we find a way to bring down subsidies around the world, that'll be good news.

But with regards to energy -- and that's really the heart of what we're describing here -- one side of this is, of course, the fear; the fear of the fact that we face global warming, that we face serious competitive challenges globally unless we become serious with getting prices of energy down. But the other is the opportunity. It's a great opportunity for America to develop technology to lead the world in energy efficiency as well as energy production. And whether it's nuclear or liquefied coal, where we sequester the CO2, far more fuel- efficient automobiles -- by the way, where bureaucrats don't write the rules, but where business people come together and say let's find a way to make sure that the American -- the domestic industry can thrive. These are some of the incentives that have to be behind our policies with regards to our investments --

Bartiromo: Thank you.

Romney: -- in new technologies like ethanol.

Bartiromo: Chris.

Matthews: This is one of those 30-second, down-the-line, gentlemen, questions.
Polls show the Republicans are known as the party of national security and of moral values. The polls also show that voters look now, at least, to the Democrats to handle the economy.

How are you going to win back their confidence in order?

Congressman Paul.

Paul: Well, first, we have to have a sound economy and we don't. We're overtaxed, we're overregulated. We work with a currency that is non-functional, and our prosperity is slipping. And we are overextended overseas; you can't have a prosperous economy at home when you're spending all the money overseas.

You can't even have a strong national defense if you're spending all this money overseas in wars that we're not winning.

So if we want a prosperous economy here, we have to change these policies, and we can't be bailing out farmers and subsidizing ethanol. This is just the wrong way to go. The taxpayers pays (sic) for the subsidies, and then they pay for higher prices when they buy the gasoline or buy the food. It never works.

Matthews: Governor?

Huckabee: The American people have always believed that the American dream was alive for them. Most of us here today, probably every one of us, are living better than we ever dreamed we would when we were kids.

But when I ask the question, "How many of you think your kids and grandkids are going to be living better than you," rarely does a hand go up.

A lot of what has to happen is a restoring of the resilience and optimism in this country, and part of that is making sure that they understand that we understand we've got big problems that need big ideas, things like a total overhaul of our tax system, and people who are running this country who grew up the hard way, with a struggle, who understand what it's like to not be sure that the next day is going to necessarily be a great and prosperous one.